State of the Union

What goes up must come down.

   The union is in danger of crumbling, say the cynics. If not politically, then economically. Too often, moreover, the two go together -- one can drag down the other.
   The Federal Reserve Board last week raised a caution flag, noting that the U.S. economy continues to grow "at a solid pace," but there are signs of weakness that give the Fed "reason for caution." And at a dinner meeting with the president on Monday, Chairman Jerome Powell said the agency will continue to do its job, hinting that political pressure from the Oval Office won't work.
   Experts in academia have also joined the chorus of warnings, suggesting that a full-blown recession is only a year way, if not sooner.
   The standard definition of economic recession is two consecutive fiscal quarters of negative growth in output -- Gross Domestic Product, or the total value of all goods and services produced in the nation in any given period.
   So far, the U.S. economy has enjoyed its longest stretch of growth in its history. How long this can continue, however, is the question. Along with that is the issue of what, if anything, the Fed can do to ease the pain of what many see as inevitable and what others see as preventable -- or at least an easing of the stress of an economic slowdown.
   So what does the president have to say about all this?